Automatic egg-cleaning machines



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AUTOMATIC EGG-CLEANING MACHINES Filed Sept; 22, 1952 6 sheetssheet 4INVENTOR. 04 1 05 0. P0 W52 L W, lwq mw A r relax/5V5 Aug. 9, 1955 c. c.POWELL AUTOMATIC EGG-CLEANING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 22,1952 INVENTOR. 011 05 0. Pom 44 Aug. 9, 1955 c. c. POWELL AUTOMATICEGG-CLEANING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 22, 1952 United tatesPatent 0 Poultry Equipment Company, Benton, Wash, a partnershipApplication September 22, 1952, Serial No. 310,892

20 Claims. (Cl. 51-23) The present invention concerns a machine, and amethod, for cleaning eggs by subjecting them individually to theabrasion of numerous small, locally yieldable elements such as loopsarranged to rotate in loci that define two cylinders disposed generallyparallel to the path along which the eggs are advanced, while at thesame time insuring presentation of each polar zone of an egg effectivelyto the abrasive cylinders, by a gradual shift in the posi tionrelationship of the eggs axis to the axes of the respective cylinders.Primarily the abrasion is for the purpose of removing adhered dirt,although in areas where there is no such dirt, some slight abrasion ofthe shell may occur.

An egg-cleaning machine of the general nature indicated above isdisclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,554,878 dated May 29, 1951. In thatpatent, the two cylindrical axes are parallel to each other and to thepath of advance of the eggs, and in order to effect the desired shift inthe eggs axis relative to the cylinders axes, and so to presentalternatively and effectively the opposite polar zones and equatorialzones of each individual egg to the abrasive elements, the track alongwhich the eggs advanced is itself oscillated from side to side, firsttoward one cylinder and then toward the other, and so on reversely andalternatively during the passage of the egg along that track. Incontrast, the present invention contemplates that the track be fixed andnon-oscillatory, that the egg itself (in a preferred embodiment) be nottilted during its advance, even by opposite inclination of the two fixedtracks (as in the secondary embodiment), and that the presentation ofthe opposite polar zones to the abrasive cylindrical elements beaccomplished primarily by the expedient of fixing the axes of the twoabrasive cylinders in oppositely skewed positions with respect to oneanother and with respect to the path of advance of the eggs along thetrack. The progression {f,

of a rolling egg along its path gradually but effectively alters itsposition relative to the two skewed cylinder axes, to present theopposite poles for abrasion. By so doing, the construction of theegg-cleaning machine is simplified; the only movable parts are thecylinders and f-" the egg-advancing belt, and a single motor will serveto rotate the cylindrical abrasive members and also to advance the eggs;and the guide for the belt is stationary (though preferably adjustableto accommodate different sizes of eggs, and for like purposes), hencewith the simplification of the construction, the chance formalfunctioning is reduced and the cost is lessened.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an egg-cleaningmachine of the type which will permit the use of a cylindrical abrasivemember of the type shown in the Miller et al. patent, No. 2,018,967,dated October 29, 1935, which abrasive member incorporates numeroussmall, flexible, abrasive loops flung outwardly by the rotation of theirsupporting structure to be drawn over an egg passing lengthwisealongside the cylinder. Such a cylindrical abrasive member is of simple,inexpensive construction, thoroughly satisfactory in use, and permitsready substitution of fresh abrasive loops for worn loops.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide anegg-cleaning machine of the general nature indicated which incorporatesmeans whereby it may be adjusted to accommodate with equal facility andefiiciency eggs varying in size from the smallest to the largest.

In connection with the principal feature, the skewed axes of thecylindrical abrasive members and their relationship in position to thepath of advance of the eggs,

it is a further object to provide a track for the eggs which,

although fixed in any given position of adjustment, will nevertheless beadjustable to maintain the eggs close to the loci of the loops at everystage of the eggs advance, and, in the secondary embodiment, to do so byeffecting a reversal of the inclination of the major axis of each egg asit advances along such track, to the end that the polar zones arealternatively and more surely presented to the action of the abrasiveloops.

With these objects in mind, and others as will appear hereinafter, myinvention comprises the novel elements and the novel construction andarrangement of the parts thereof in an egg-cleaning machine, and thenovel method of cleaning eggs, all as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, as described in this specification, and as will be moreparticularly pointed out by the claims terminating the same.

Figure 1 is in general a plan view with parts broken away, illustratingthe complete egg-cleaning machine, and Figure 2 is a general sideelevational view, also with parts broken away, illustrating the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view at one end-for example thefeed end-illustrating the position relationship between the axes of thetwo abrasive cylinders and of each with relation to the eggs path ofadvance; Figure 4 is a similar view but illustrating the samerelationships at a point generally midway between the ends of the eggspath and of the length of the cylinders; and Figure 5 is a similar viewillustrating the relationship of the parts at the end opposite Figure3-- that is, for example, at the discharge end of the eggcleaningmachine.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3, but illustrating especially theadjustment of the egg-cleaning machine to accommodate the jumbo sizeeggs, and Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, but illustrating partsin the adjustment corresponding to that which best accommodates peeweesize eggs.

Figure 8 is a detail side elevational view illustrating particularly thetrack-adjusting mechanism, in one position of adjustment, correspondingto Figure 6, and Figure 9 is a similar view showing parts in a differentposition of adjustment, corresponding to Figure 7.

Figure 10 is an isometric view of the discharge and of the machine,illustrating particularly one possible style of egg return, and thedrive arrangement for the machine.

Figure 11 is a side elevational view similar to Figure 2, and Figure 12is a plan view similar to Figure 1, showing a modified form of machinethat incorporates the same general principles.

The path of advance of eggs through such a machine is defined by twogenerally parallel rails 11 and 12, which may be considered as fixed inposition .at a spacing such that each engages beneath an egg, outwardlyof its minor r' axis B, when that egg is placed with its major axis Adirected tarnsversely of the track constituted by the two rails 11 and12. The egg rolls along the track thus constituted and being engaged byupstanding pins or pushers 2, spaced at intervals upon a belt 2% thatpasses over a driving pulley 24 and a driven pulley 25, these pushers 2,which are broadened in the direction transversely of the path of advanceof the eggs, tend to keep the eggs major axis A always orientedtransversely of the direction of advance. The upper run of the belt 2 issupported upon a channel-like longitudinally directed bar 23.

An abrasivecylindrical element 31 is disposed generally parallel to andoutside of the rail 11, and a similar abrasive cylinder 32 is similarlydisposed with relation to the rail 12. Other than to note that each suchcylinder includes a shaft 30, a central core 34, and numerous flexibleabrasive loops 33, spaced angularly about the cylinder and dis tributedlengthwise thereof, it seems unnecessary to describe such cylinders indetail inasmuch as they are already disclosed in the Miller et al.patent and in my prior patent referred to hereinabove, and any locallyyieldable abrasive cylindrical element will serve instead. The loops 33,when each cylinder is rotated, are flung centrifugally outwardly and theouter ends of the loops collectively describe a cylindrical locus 35 forthe cylinder 31 and 36 for the cylinder 32, the two of which approachclosely, at least at one point, and are always close enough to the eggspath to swipe an egg of a large or an average size as it advances alongthe tracks.

The shafts of the cylinders are journaled at their ends in a frame orcasing, indicated generally at 9, in an orientation which will shortlybe described in detail, and they are driven in the rotative sensesindicated by the arrows in Figures 3, 4, and 5, to move conjointlydownwardly and inwardly toward their point of closest approach, to urgethe egg which they swipe gently downwardly upon the tracks, rather thanto urge the egg upwardly.

It will be remembered that the loci and 36, respectively, are eachcylindrical. The axis 31a or 32a, respectively, of each such cylinder isskewed with relation to the axis of the other cylinder, and withrelation to the path of advance of the eggs, as defined generally by therails 11 and 12, in the following fashion. is at the left in Figures 1and 2, and the discharge end at the right; in Figures 11 and 12 thereverse is true. At the feed end one such cylinder, for example thecylinder 31, which is at the left facing in the direction of advance,has its axis 31a located considerably higher but laterally appreciablycloser to its rail 11 than the location of the axis 32a of the cylinder32 with relation to its rail 12 on the right. The axis 32a, at this end,is located more or less on a level with the prolongation of the majoraxis A of the egg on the track. This relative location of the two axesis indicated in Figure 3. At the discharge end the situation isreversed, and at this discharge end, shown in Figure 5, the axis 31a ofthe cylinder 31 is considerably lower and laterally farther outward fromits rail 11 than is the axis 32a of the cylinder 32 with relation to itsrail 12. The axis 31a is now the one which is on a level with the eggsmajor axis A, extended. At a median point in the length of the cylindersthe two axes are both at the same level, and at the same lateral spacingoutwardly with respect to their corresponding rails, and thisrelationship is shown in Figure 4.

One purpose of this skewing, as has already been stated, is to keep thecylinders close enough to the advancing egg, without interferancebetween the cylinders at any point, to swipe both hemispheres of the eggthroughout its advance. A further purpose is to alter the manner ofengagement of the cylinders with the respective hemispheres of the egg.By reason of this skewing of the axes of the two cylinders, .thecylindrical locus 36 of the cylinder 32 intersects the locus of onepolar zone or polar cap of an egg as it rolls down the track 12 (seeFigure 3), whereas the opposite cylindrical locus 35 intersects theequatorial zone, and a zone intermediate the equatorial zone and thepolar zone, but the polar zone only to a slight degree, at the oppositeend of the same egg, as the egg rolls down its track 11. At the medianpoint in the length of the path of advance of the egg each cylindricallocus engages primarily the intermediate zone and has left theequatorial zone, but to some degree still engages each its polar zone.By the time the egg reaches the oppo- The feed end site end of its pathof advance and the position relationship of the two cylindrical loci 35and 36 has been reversed, the locus 35 which initially engaged primarilythe equatorial zone now engages primarily its polar zone or cap of theegg, whereas the locus 36 which initially engaged primarily the oppositepolar zone, now engages primarily the equatorial zone of that same endof the egg.

A similar effect is produced, or the effect of skewing the cylindersaxes is augmented, by altering the shape of the rails upperegg-supporting edge as viewed from the side from a straight to asomewhat curved conformation; see Figure 2 and compare Figures 3, 4, and5. The rails 11 and 12 are both higher at the feed end than at theirlongitudinal midpoint, where the cylindrical orbits 35, 36 approach eachother most closely and where the rails are of equal height, and becomehigher again at the discharge end. Their heights at pointscorrespondingly distant from the midpoint need not be equal, and in factthe rail 11 would preferably be slightly higher at the feed end (Figure3) than the rail 12, to elevate this end of the egg and thus to keep itwithin the locus of cylinder 31, and at the discharge end the rail 12would preferably be slightly highter than the rail 11, to elevate thisend of the egg and thus to keep it within the locus of cylinder 32. Inthese ways each end of the egg is kept within the locus of bothcylinders, throughout their length and notwithstanding their divergenceat their ends as a result of their skewing. More particularly, since thefeed end of cylinder 31 is elevated above the feed end of cylinder 32,the left end of the egg as viewed in Figure 3 is elevatedcorrespondingly by the greater height of the feed end of rail 11 ascompared to that rails height at its midpoint, and by the slightlygreater height of rail 11 relative to rail 12 at their feed ends; thereverse is true at the discharge end, as seen in Figure 5; at themidpoint the minimum height of the two rails, and their equality inheight, avoids forcing them unduly into the two abrasive cylinders.Viewed from the side, each rail is curved at its upper edge. Each rail,considered with relation to its cylinder, describes approximately ahelix of long pitch. These eflfects can be heightened by increasing thecurvature of the rails, in a manner later described in detail; suchincreased curvature is particularly desirable with smaller sizes ofeggs, and is described in conjunction with the adjustment laterally ofthe rails relative to one another.

It will be remembered that in all cases the loops 33 swipe lengthwise ofthe egg and generally in the direction toward the poles, thereby holdingthe egg down on its tracks, and each cylinder conforms locally to thecurvature of the egg in the region where they engage the eggs shell andtheir loops are drawn thereover rapidly to effect an abrasive action.They do not strike an appreciable blow, and there is little danger ofbreaking the shell of the egg, and yet their abrasive action repeatedmany, many times in the course of advance of the egg, coupled with thecontinuous rotation of the egg about its axis A, thoroughly cleans theegg in all areas of its shell.

This cleaning action is effective whether or not the egg is tiltedendwise as it traverses the length of its path of advance or is keptuntilted during such advance. In other words, the two rails 11 and 12may be substantially precisely parallel, as they are in the form ofFigures 1 to 10 inclusive, and the skewed relationship of the respectivecylinders will cleanse its alternate polar zones; this is the preferredarrangement. Alternatively, the rails 11 and 12 may themselves berelatively skewed, as in Figures 11 and 12, in order to effect tiltingof the transversely disposed major axis A of the egg, from a positiontilted in one direction at the feed end to a tilt in the oppositedirection at the discharge end. Thus, as is shown best in Figure 11, theleft hand rail 11a may be lower at the feed end than is the rail 12a atthis same end, whereas at the discharge end the rail 11a is appreciablyhigher than the rail 12a, as the dotted line indicates. In effect, ifnot in fact, each such rail describes approximately a helical twist fromone end to the other, each with relation to its skewed cylinder, therail 11a with relation to the cylinder 31, and the rail 12a withrelation to the cylinder 32, and by this means the major axis of the eggis reversed from an upward tilt to the right if it were viewed as inFigure 3, to an upward tilt to the left if it were viewed as in Figure5. It is preferred that this change of the tilt of the major axis A,when the same is employed, be continuous from one end to the other ofthe path of advance of the egg, and that the egg be not tilted back andforth during its travel, but tilted only once from one extreme to theopposite extreme tilt. This is so because with relation to the skewedcylindrical loci, this opposite relative inclination of the rails moresurely presents the polar cap to that cylinder which is best fitted toswipe it and then at the opposite end of the path of advance presentsthe opposite polar cap to the other cylinder best able to swipe thelatter.

it is obvious that if the skewed axes 31a and 32a were extendedindefinitely they would at some point spread so far apart that thecylindrical loci 35 and 36 would fail to touch an egg of normal oraverage size. Where that point would be located would depend uponnumerous factors, such as the size of the eggs, the relative angle ofthe axes, the trueness of the cylindrical shapes, as for example, thepresence or absence of swelling at their ends, the straightness of thetracks or their departure from straightness along curved lines, theiropposite inclination as already discussed, etc. Since one such factor isthe straightness or curvature of the tracks, I have in the preferredform incorporated mechanism for curving the tracks when this is desired,but since this mechanism is physically coupled with adjusting mechanismto accommodate different sizes of eggs, it will be described inconjunction therewith.

Eggs vary appreciably in size. There is quite a range between thesmallest size, the peewee eggs, and the largest size, the jumbo eggs.Since it is obvious that the egg should not be forced deeply into thecylindrical loci at their point of closest approach, for fear ofbreaking them, and yet must be kept within range of each such locusthroughout the entire path of advance of the egg, it has been foundextremely desirable to provide means whereby the egg-cleaning machine ofthis invention can be ad justed to accommodate the different sizes ofeggs. An average adjustment for standard size eggs is indicated inFigures 3, 4 and 5. Figure 6, however, shows an adjustment for jumboeggs and Figure 7 an adjustment for pnllet or for peewee eggs. in orderto effect such adjustments, each rail is pivotally mounted to tilt abouta longitudinal axis, the rail 11 at 41 and the rail 12 at 42, at theopposite side of and beneath the longitudinal frame element or bar 23.Each rail is engaged from beneath by one or preferably by severalcam-like elements or eccentries 4 upon oscillating spindles 40, whichbear beneath the respective rails. Each such spindle as is journalled inthe longitudinal bar 23, and when these cams are rotated, they will tiltand so will elevate or permit depression of the corresponding rails 11and 12. Preferably all cams are connected for conjoint operation, as bysecuring on each shaft or spindle 49 an arm 43 and joining those arms bylinks 44, one at one side of the track for half the tracks length, theother at the opposite side and end of the track. This disposition of thelinks avoids interference between the links and the cylindrical loci, aswould occur if, in Figure 3 for example, the link 44 were located at theright, or if, in Figure 5, it were located at the left. A control handle45 placed exteriorly of the housing or frame 9 and linked at 44' to thecam system enables adjustment to the different positions, and thesepositions may be determined by cooperating stop or indicator means 46.

In the foregoing description of the mechanism to adjust the machine fordifferent sizes of eggs it has been assumed that the longitudinal bar 23is a fixed and straight part of the frame. For most purposes and at sometimes it is, and at a median point lengthwise it is. fixedly anchored tothe frame by means of the post 24 upstanding from the rigid cross bar25. At its ends, however, the longitudinal bar 23 is unsecured, and,being somewhat flexible (as also are the rails 11, 12) its ends can bebent upwardly. Thereupon, in effect the rails as viewed from the siderise even farther at their ends above their midpoints than they doinherently. T 0 this end companion cams 49 which are fast to the two endspindles as, and which bear on the rollers 26 mounted on rigidly fixedcross bars or frame elements 27, rock when the spindles 4t) and cams 4are rocked, and thereby produce a force reacting from the fixed frameupwardly on the ends of the longitudinal bar 23, wherein the spindles 40are journaled, to bend its ends upwardly relative to its fixedlyanchored center or median portion, at 24, 25. The same bending forceacts through the bar 23 on the ends of the tracks, bending them upwardlyalso.

Thus whenever the tracks are urged laterally together to accommodatesmaller eggs, their ends are also urged upwardly. By such bending theyare brought closer to the diverging ends of the relatively skewedcylindrical loci 35, 36. A smaller egg, as it rolls along the tracks,would the sooner depart from such loci than a larger egg, if the tracksremained precisely straight, hence the lateral approach of the tracks,and the bowing upwardly of their ends, each acts to accommodate themachine to smaller eggs, and of course, the relaxing of the bowing andthe lateral spreading of the tracks better accommodates larger eggs.

it is convenient to effect return of the eggs to the same end from whichthey were fed into the machine. That may be readily accomplished wheredesired by providing a return chute 95, with an impositive feed returnbelt 5 moving along its bottom; a short transfer chute and belt at 50receives the eggs from the feed belt 2% and delivers them to the returnbelt 5, and the latter deposits them upon a table 96. The track 12 isinclined at 1212, at the discharge end (see Figure 2), whereas the track11 is not, and this has the effect of tilting the egg sidewise upon thetransfer belt 50.

In the form of machine illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 the eggs returnby a path immediately beneath their initial path of advance. A hood 52overlies the path of the eggs as they travel about the pulley 25,merging into a bottom track 53, which supports the eggs as they travelback toward the feed end under the influence of the pushers 2. Arrivedat the feed end, they may be discharged upon a table 97, having been fedto the machine from a feed table 93.

There is no bowing upwardly of the ends of the rails in the form ofFigures 11 and 12, hence only cams 4, each fixedly pivoted in the frame,and connected for conjoint movement in the manner already described, areneeded. These cams bear beneath the rails 11a and 12a to tilt the latterfor approach or recession, as has been described.

Considerable dust accompanies the cleaning operation wherefore it ispreferred that it be housed in, and a suction duct 99 may be providedfor collecting and conveying away the dust as it rises.

A single motor M may drive all parts of the machine. It is shown asprovided with a belt 39 connected to both the cylinders 31 and 32 todrive them in the relatively reverse rotative senses, and either thissame belt or, in Figures 11 and 12, a separate belt 29 is provided todrive the speed reduction drive 21 of the egg-advancing means. While thesuction fan or blower for removing dust is not shown, it, too, may bedriven from the motor M, if desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. An egg-cleaning machine comprising two generally horizontallydisposed, parallel, and fixedly positioned rails spaced apart to supportthe opposite ends of individual eggs as they roll, for advance along adefinite path defined by said rails, means so to advance individual eggsin spaced relation and with their major axes always directedtransversely, by rolling them along said rails, two cylinders disposedgenerally at opposite sides of the paired rails and so of the eggs pathof advance and rotative in non-coincident orbits, each cylinderincorporating peripheral abrasive elements to swipe an egg passingwithin its orbit, and means supporting said cylinders for rotation, saidsupporting means being relatively so located that i are both positionedclose enough to their respective rails that their respective abrasiveelements will collectively swipe the entire adjacent hemisphere of eachegg during the course of the eggs advance along said rails.

2. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, including means to rotate thetwo cylinders each in the sense to move its abrasive elements inwardlyand downwardly relative to the abrasive elements of the other cylinder.

3. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, characterized in that the tworails dip lower at their midpoint than at their ends.

4. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, including means to spread orto effect approach of the rails laterally relative to one another, tovary their lateral spacing from each other.

5. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, wherein the rails are somewhatflexible, means to restrain upward movement of the rails at a generallymedian point of their length, and adjusting means to flex the ends ofthe two rails vertically upwardly with relation to their restrainedmedian portions.

6. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 5, including means operativelyengaged with the rails at points spaced therealong, and operable tospread or to effect approach of the rails relative to one anothersubstantially equally at all points in their length, to vary theirlateral spacing from each other.

7. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, including means to bend thetwo rails to elevate their ends with relation to their midpoint.

8. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, wherein the rails are somewhatflexible, including means to restrain upward bodily movement of therails at a midpoint in their length, means supporting the individualrails for bodily movement at their ends in a generally verticaldirection, and cam means operatively engaging each rail so to move itsends relative to its midpoint, and so to vary its spacing relative toits adjacent cylinder.

9. An eggcleaning machine as in claim 1, wherein the rails are somewhatflexible, means to anchor the rails against substantial verticalmovement at a generally median point in their length, cam means reactingbetween each end of both rails and a fixed abutment, to raise the endsof the rails relative to their median portions, and means joining allsaid cam means for conjoint operation.

10. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, including arms supportingeach rail and directed laterally towards the opposite rail, andpivotally fixedly mounted each at its end distant from its rail, andmeans to tilt each rail about the pivot axis of its supporting arms.

11. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 10, wherein each rail-tiltingmeans includes a plurality of eccentric cams spaced longitudinally ofits rail, in a common vertical plane, and each bearing beneath its rail,and means joining the several cams, of both rails, for conjoint angu- 8lar movement about their respective pivot axes, for bodily movement ofthe rail in a generally vertical direction.

12. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, including a fixed frame, agenerally rigid but slightly flexible bar extending lengthwise alongsidethe rails, the rails also being somewhat flexible, means to support thebar at its median portion from said frame, and said rails from said barfor lateral tilting movement of each rail towards and from the otherrail, cam means mounted on said bar, and engageable with the rails attheir median portion and also adjacent their two ends, further cam meansmounted on said bar adjacent its ends and reacting from said frame uponsaid bar, and means to shift all said cam means conjointly, the cammeans at the ends being conjointly of greater throw than the cam meansat the median portion, to tilt the rails laterally towards or from eachother throughout their length, and simultaneously to flex the bar, andconsequently the rails, vertically at their ends.

13. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, characterized in that eachrail is curved longitudinally in generally helical relation to itsadjacent skewed cylinder, and each oppositely to the other rail, and byso much the two rails depart from parallelism.

14. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 1, characterized in that eachrail lies substantially in a single vertical plane, but each is curvedas viewed from the side, a first rail, being that one which is adjacentthe first cylinder, being higher than the second rail at their feedends, the two rails being generally of equal height at the longitudinalmedian position, and the first rail being lower than the second rail attheir discharge ends.

15. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 14-, including additionallymeans to elevate or to lower the rails end portions relative to theirrespective cylinders.

16. An egg-cleaning machine as in claim 14, including additionally meansto spread or to effect approach of the rails laterally towards oneanother to vary their lateral spacing.

17. An egg-cleaning machine comprising a first and a second trackgenerally fixedly spaced apart in general parallelism to supportindividual eggs rolling therealong with their major axes disposed alwaystransversely, means to advance eggs individually along said tracks inspaced relationship, from a feed end to a discharge end, a first and asecond rotative cylinder, each including peripheral abrasive elements,the first disposed alongside and outwardly of the first track and thesecond alongside but at the outer side of the second track, each withits axis directed generally lengthwise of the tracks, and spaced onlysufliciently therefrom to maintain each hemisphere of an egg, as itrolls along the tracks, generally within the effective orbits of thecorresponding cylinders abrasive elements, the first such track and itscorresponding cylinder being relatively fixedly positioned with thecylinders axis at the feed end outward of the track but approximately ona level with a prolongation of the major axis of an egg upon the tracks,but with that first cylinders axis at the discharge end elevatedmaterially above such level, and more nearly vertically above that firsttrack, whereby the first cylinder and the first track lie in mutuallyskewed relation, and the second track and its second cylinder beingsimilarly relatively fixedly positioned but reversely relatively skewed,that is to say the second cylinder having its axis at the discharge endlocated outward of the second track but approximately on a level withthe prolongation of the major axis of an egg upon the tracks, but withthat second cylinders axis at the feed end elevated materially abovesuch level, and more nearly vertically above that second track.

18. The method of cleaning an egg which comprises rolling the egg aboutits major axis along a substantially straight path arranged to tilt theegg, as it rolls, from an initial end position wherein its major axis isuptilted at one pole through a given angle to the horizontal to a finalend position wherein that axis is more nearly horizontal, subjecting theegg as it rolls to an abrasive swiping action along two cylindrical lociat respectively opposite sides of its path, which cylindrical loci areoriented with their axes skewed relative to such path, so that aprolongation of the major axis beyond one pole at the initial endposition more nearly intersects the axis of the adjacent locus than doesa prolongation of such major axis beyond the opposite pole, in the sameinitial end position, come to intersecting the axis of the other locus,and, at the final end position, a prolongation of the major axis beyondthe second-mentioned pole more nearly intersects the axis of itsadjacent locus than does a prolongation of the major axis beyond thefirst-mentioned pole come to intersecting the axis of its adjacentlocus.

19. The method defined in claim 18, characterized in that the abrasiveaction is continuous throughout the eggs advance along its path, andshifts by virtue of the reversal of direction of the eggs axis withrespect to the axes of the two loci, as the egg rolls, fromsubstantially polar zone engagement along the cylindrical locus at itsinitially uptilted end and substantially equatorial zone engagementalong the other cylindrical locus at its initially downtilted end, tothe reverse condition at the final end of its path of advance, namely,of substantially equatorial zone engagement at its initially uptiltedend,

and substantially p'olar zone engagement at its initially downtiltedend, whereby all areas are exposed to generally tltlhe same abrasiveeffect as the egg rolls along its pa 20. The method of cleaning an eggwhich consists in locating two peripherally abrasive but locallyyieldable cylinders in adjacent but mutually axially skewedrelationship, supporting and advancing individual eggs by rolling themalong a path intermediate said cylinders, always with their major axesdirected transversely of such path, guiding the eggs as they advance topresent the polar region of one hemisphere to one such cylinder, and atthe same time the equatorial region of the opposite hemisphere to theother cylinder, and by the time the egg reaches the other end of itspath reversing its relation to the two cylinders to present the otherpolar region to the other cylinder and the equatorial portion of theopposite hemisphere to the first such cylinder, and rotating saidcylinders during passage of the egg in mutually opposite senses, to urgethe egg towards its support by its contacts With the rotating cylinders.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,964,295 Miller et a1. June 26, 1934 2,018,967 Miller et al Oct. 29.1935 2,554,878 Powell May 29, 1951

